Notes on Rachel Mills

1. Notes on Rachel Mills Sniper's Death Penalty - Do punishments fit crimes anymore?

2. Paragraph 1 -- Setting it up For argument's sake, assume the government can rightly impose the death penalty and take someone's life as punishment for taking the life of another. I realize this in itself is a controversy and I'm not totally convinced myself, but assuming it can and should administer the death penalty at all, just go with me...

3. Paragraph 2 -- Background Remember the terror that gripped the Washington DC area last October? It didn't just affect Linda Franklin or Dean Myers. It affected everyone. Imagine feeling hunted everywhere you go. As soon as you step outside your home, even to mow the lawn. Nowhere is safe. You do the bare minimum of outside activity. You walk quickly to your car, on edge every moment. Every noise startles you, you duck and cover at the slam of a door. The gaslight glows a menacing red on your dash and you can avoid it no longer. You're terrified just getting gas. You feel like a sitting duck. Whether you were shot or not before they caught Muhammad and Malvo, you felt hunted. The mental agony was excruciating for more than just 16 people.

4. Paragraph 3 -- Building sympathy At least 16 people felt bullets rip through their flesh as shots rang out and pandemonium ensued. What must that be like? No one knew where the bullets were coming from or when they would stop. Did people rush to the side of the wounded? Or did they run for cover and wait? How long did Linda Franklin bleed on the pavement before anyone came to help her? Did she live to receive her last rites? Did she get one final favorite meal? Or was she dieting and skipping dessert? Did she die in a room of tears and final goodbyes, or alone and cold and terrified with things left unsaid to her loved ones?

5. Paragraph 4 -- Establishing a premise Why will death be so easy and peaceful for her killers? A quiet needle in the arm, on a predetermined date, with a full comfortable stomach, plenty of time to "get right with God." Malvo, the kid, predicted they would both be executed for their fun and games. Neither one seemed particularly dismayed or horrified by the state taking their life. Because, face it, if you're going to die, that's the way to do it. And if you're suicidal anyway, its not like you can go to Kevorkian for this kind of treatment. You have to earn it. The death penalty is not doing its job. It is not scaring anyone. We euthanize the most brutal and inhumane among us in the same manner as we gently put down a beloved pet, and we call it justice.

6. Paragraphs 5 & 6 Controverting a premise Even defense attorney Peter Greenspun said, "The sanction of another killing by the government is not likely to ... benefit anybody." This is true. It's not going to make an example of them in a way that matters to the next snipers, its not going to bring anyone back, and its not going to bring in any money to anyone. In fact the appeals process could be lengthy and even more expensive to the taxpayers than just a simple life-in-prison retirement plan. Note: This is to meet a possible objection of an opposing position.

7. Paragraphs 7 & 8 Introducing the proposal/conclusion So I have this amendment proposal to the death penalty. Let's adopt the principle that punishment should fit the crime. Let's decide that "cruel and unusual" should be no more or less "cruel and unusual" than what the perpetrators themselves imagined and inflicted on their victims, who numbered in the millions. Not just 16. Let's also acknowledge that we should not be "cruel and unusual" to the victims, victimizing them again by giving these monsters peaceful deaths, last meals, comfort and security. That's not fair. And Mr. Greenspun is absolutely correct - it doesn't help anyone.

8. Paragraphs 9 & 10 -- The Plan Here's a death plan, tailored just especially for Muhammad and Malvo. Find a few acres of forest, fenced in with razor wire. Dress Muhammad and Malvo up like turkeys. Paint some bullseyes on their chests and heads. Release them into the forest and let them wait there for a few weeks. Nuts and berries. Not filet mignon. Now go to the biggest Gun and Knife Show in the DC area. It would have to be in the Virginia area probably. Sell tickets. Have an auction. Say there will be 50 hunters allowed inside the fence to do as they see fit with those men. Proceeds are split between the victims families and reimbursing the taxpayers for legal expenses of their trials. And then the sanctioning of these killings *will* benefit somebody. If it had been my mother at that Home Depot instead of Linda Franklin, this is how I would want it done.

9. Paragraph 11 -- Another premise Then Muhammad and Malvo will understand. They will understand what it feels like to be hunted, and to not know your hour. They will understand terror, and feel pain, and anticipate feeling pain, and we might see some remorse, some emotion, some fear, something. Maybe we at least wouldn't see this kind of sadistic viciousness once we adopt a little more judgementalism towards criminals instead of victims.

10. Paragraphs 12 & 13Another premise and a closing that is not the argument’s conclusion Once people saw and understood that what they do unto others will be done back to them, the Golden Rule might mean something again. Until this philosophy is adopted, I will remain against the death penalty because I feel that eternal boredom with no hope of parole is a much worse punishment than just ending it all mercifully with that quiet needle.